Eberechi Eze has become one of the Premier League’s great entertainers. In conversation with the player’s former coach, Adam Bate discovers how a chat with England team-mate James Maddison helped Eze on his way and why his style can be misunderstood…
Sunday 3 September 2023 14:33, UK
Eberechi Eze and James Maddison have both been included in the England squad for the games against Ukraine and Scotland later this month. The presence of the two playmakers is particularly significant for Paul Hall. He recalls putting the pair in touch.
Hall oversaw Eze's development at Queens Park Rangers, having earlier coached Maddison as a 13-year-old at Coventry City. When Eze began to light up the Championship with his skills, a move to the Premier League became inevitable. Big decisions lay ahead.
"Ebere was at a bit of a crossroads," Hall tells Sky Sports.
"James had been at Norwich, getting a lot of big clubs asking for him, courting him. It was almost the same thing with Ebere. He had gone to another level on loan at Wycombe, come back to QPR and was blowing up the Championship. We knew he was going to move.
"When you are that good in the Championship you have so many choices, it is all about picking the right one. Do you choose to go to a massive club? Do you choose to go to a club that is going to help you and you are going to play every week?
"I felt James was that player a couple of years before.
"I asked James to give Ebere a call to give him some advice. I just felt he could affect him. James was happy to pick the phone up and happy to have that conversation. It was great that he could do that. The fact that he helped Ebere on his way was something else."
Both are thriving on the big stage now. Maddison with Tottenham, Eze at Crystal Palace. They are the game's mavericks, flair footballers with a penchant for the unpredictable, the sort of players who persuade the neutral to change their plans for the afternoon.
Eze's languid dribbling style certainly draws the viewer in. Defenders too. "You have to keep your eyes on him," laughs Hall, a winger himself in his playing days. "Even as a youngster, he could go past players with these body feints and it was just magical to watch him."
It earned Eze a nickname at QPR's academy. "We called him 'drunken master' - he had just got this lazy style." It is fooling Premier League opponents now. He was one of only two players into double figures for completed dribbles before August was through.
Palace boss Roy Hodgson is regarded as a coach who values a certain rigidity in his teams but he has encouraged Eze, 25, to feel free on the pitch, urging him to be himself in the knowledge that he can find the solutions. "He makes sense of the game," says Hall.
And that lazy style? Lazy is a loaded term and appearances can be as deceptive as his dribbling. There is perception and reality. The numbers might surprise. Eze ranks among the top 10 players in the Premier League for pressures resulting in a turnover of possession.
"This is why the numbers are good," explains Hall. "They show that he is working just as hard as anyone else. He posts the numbers but because it looks like he is just jogging, he sometimes comes in for a bit of criticism for not working hard. He is working hard."
It is for this reason that, while Hall regards him as a good example for young players, Eze can also be a risky one if those seeking to replicate his manner misunderstand it. "He is so relaxed that people try to emulate him by not working hard but he actually is working."
Maybe some coaches missed it too. There have been rejections.
"He has shown such resilience."
Eze had already been through Arsenal, Fulham and Millwall before finding a home at QPR. "They all helped him on his journey because if he had not had that journey who is to say that he would have learned that resilience to just keep going when it is going wrong."
Hall adds: "I wish I could tell you that I taught him a lot but it is what he taught me. He taught me humility. He taught me to be patient with players and understand that it is a journey. He is definitely one of the best players that I have worked with."
The best people, too.
"I cannot think of anyone in football who has reached those heights and remained so humble. He never takes the glory for himself. He always gives the glory back to God. You cannot not like that. It is just so endearing and you do not really see that every day.
"He is the most beautiful person I think I have met in football. His family are so balanced and all nice people. I have never seen him lose his temper. He is really geared up to making it and not just making it but everyone being happy that he is making it."
All of which helps to explain why Eze's England debut in June was such an emotional one for his old coach. Gareth Southgate's side were three goals up against Malta when Eze came on for that first international appearance, going on to help England to a 4-0 victory.
The man he replaced? James Maddison, of course.
"It was such a moment," says Hall.
For both players, there are sure to be many more to come.
